The European Summer begins: June’s Book
Summer in Europe is a great time of year for sports lovers. Most major outdoor sports events are about to begin or are already in full swing.
Below are a list of 5 books based on events that are happening in June in Europe…and around the world (to be fair).
Highlights next month include the Wimbledon Championships, Golf’s US Open, The British and Ireland Lions tour to Australia, the pre-event to the World Cup, The Confederations Cup and lastly the race in New York the Belmont Stakes.
Below are 5 books hand picked on those events, remember to vote at the bottom of the page. The votes will be counted and revealed on June 1st at 8PM GMT.
My review of May’s book Crashed and Bryned is coming soon…I promise.
Days of Grace by Arthur Ashe
The 2013 Wimbledon Championships will take place between from 24 June to 7 July. Wimbledon is the pinnacle of any tennis player’s career, the golden chalice of tennis. It’s where tennis legends are made.
Arthur Ashe, an African American, was the first black player ever selected to the United States Davis Cup team and the only black man ever to win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open. He retired in 1980. He was ranked World No. 1 by Harry Hopman in 1968 and by Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph and World Tennis Magazine in 1975. In the ATP computer rankings, he peaked at No. 2 in May 1976*.
Book Description: DAYS OF GRACE is an inspiring memoir of a remarkable man who was the true embodiment of courage, elegance, and the spirit to fight: Arthur Ashe – tennis champion, social activist, and person with AIDS. Frank, revealing, touching–DAYS OF GRACE is the story of a man felled to soon. It remains as his legacy to us all.
Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books (May 1, 1994)
ISBN-10: 0345386817
Book Link: http://www.amazon.com/Days-Grace-Arthur-Ashe/dp/0345386817
* Taken from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Ashe
Bobby’s Open: Mr. Jones and the Golf Shot That Defined a Legend by Steven Reid
The 2013 United States Open Championship will be the 113th U.S. Open, scheduled to be played June 13–16 at the East Course of the Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, west of Philadelphia*.
Book Description: The year: 1926. Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club is hosting the world’s oldest and most prestigious golf tournament—the British Open. A stellar field of players from both sides of the Atlantic has assembled hoping to claim victory, including Walter Hagen, Harry Vardon, and a rising young amateur from the United States, Bobby Jones. Already a winner of the US Open and US Amateur Championship, Jones, who would one day go on to found the Masters Tournament at Augusta National, has yet to win a major event on British soil. To do so now would set him on a path of unrivalled achievement and into the history books as the greatest amateur golfer the world has ever known. As the competition boils down to the penultimate hole, Bobby must hold his nerve to pull off a miracle recovery shot that will fire his reputation—and that of the golf course—around the world. Bobby’s Open is the inspirational story of a golfing legend and one of the game’s defining contests. Steven Reid blends social history with sporting biography to portray the most famous sportsman of his time, examining why Jones was so adored and the cruel price he ultimately paid for his genius. Steven Reid is a lifelong member of Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, which he captained in 1996, and is currently chairman of its Heritage Committee. Steven is also Chief Medical Officer of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and a member of County Sligo Golf Club at Rosses Point, West of Ireland.
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Icon Books (June 19, 2012)
ISBN-10: 1906850283
Book Link: http://www.amazon.com/Bobbys-Open-Jones-Defined-Legend/dp/1906850283
* Taken from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_U.S._Open_(golf)
Behind the Lions: Playing Rugby for the British & Irish Lions by Stephen Jones, Tom English, Nick Cain, David Barnes
I wanted to get the inside story about The British and Irish Lion. With a title like the above I’m hoping that I will! Uniquely told from 4 different authors, this should most definitely shed some light inside the camp and the unusual behaviour of rugby player’s on tour!
The 2013 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia is an international rugby union tour which will take place primarily in Australia, with one match in Hong Kong, during June and July 2013. The British and Irish Lions will play a series of 3 test matches against Australia and 7 non-test games. They will play against all 5 Australian Super Rugby teams – Western Force, Queensland Reds, New South Wales Waratahs, ACT Brumbies and the Melbourne Rebels – as well as a Combined New South Wales-Queensland Country team. Before they arrive in Australia, they will play against the Barbarians in Hong Kong, to mark the 125th anniversary of the first Lions tour.
On 4 September 2012 the Wales head coach Warren Gatland was announced as the Lions’ head coach. On 30 April 2013, the Lions’ initial squad of 37 players was named, to be captained by Sam Warburton.*
Book Description: For 125 years, the British and Irish Lions have stood out as a unique emblem in world sport, and this book, written by four esteemed rugby writers from each of the Home Nations, delves into the heart of what it means to be a Lion. Interviewing a vast array of former players to uncover the passion, pride, and exhilaration experienced when wearing the famous red jersey, this is a tale of heartbreak, ecstasy, humor, and poignancy is at once inspirational and utterly compelling.
About the Authors: Stephen Jones is a rugby correspondent for the Sunday Times and the author of several books on the sport, including Lion Man: The Autobiography of Ian McGeechan, Midnight Rugby: Triumph and Shambles in the Professional Era, and Endless Winter: Inside Story of the Rugby Revolution. He is also the recipient of the prestigious William Hill Sports Book of the Year award. Tom English is the award-winning chief sports writer for the Scotland on Sunday and has been voted Scottish Sport’s Feature Writer of the Year by the Scottish Press Association three times. He is the recipient of the Rugby Book of the Year award for his novel The Grudge. Nick Cain is a rugby columnist for the Sunday Times and the chief writer for the Rugby Paper. He is the editor of Rugby World magazine and the coauthor of The Lions Diary and Rugby Union for Dummies. David Barnes is a freelance journalist who covers rugby for various newspapers. He is the coauthor of Behind the Thistle: Playing Rugby for Scotland and Centre of Excellence.
Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd (January 1, 2013)
ISBN-10: 1780270984
Book Link: http://www.amazon.com/Behind-Lions-Playing-Rugby-British/dp/1780270984
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_British_and_Irish_Lions_tour_to_Australia
Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics by Jonathan Wilson
The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, the 9th edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup, is an international association football tournament that will be held in Brazil in 2013, as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup.The tournament is expected to be held from 15 to 30 June 2013. Brazil are the defending champions.
Book Description: Soccer fans love to argue about the tactics a manager puts into play, and this fascinating study traces the world history of tactics, from modern pioneers right back to the beginning, where chaos reigned. Along the way, author Jonathan Wilson, an erudite and detailed writer who never loses a sense of the grand narrative sweep, takes a look at the lives of the great players and thinkers who shaped the game, and discovers why the English in particular have proved themselves so “unwilling to grapple with the abstract.” This is a modern classic of soccer writing that followers of the game will dip into again and again.
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Orion (August 4, 2009)
ISBN-10: 1409102041
Book Link: http://www.amazon.com/Inverting-Pyramid-History-Football-Tactics/dp/1409102041
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_FIFA_Confederations_Cup
Secretariat by William Nack
I’d say that most horse racing fans know what the Belmont Stakes is, well I didn’t! The final book in this month’s list is Secretariat. Secretariat has the greatest victory margin in at the Belmont Stakes with 31 lengths by 1973.
Book Description: n 1973, Secretariat, the greatest champion in horse-racing history, won the Triple Crown. The only horse to ever grace the covers of Time, Newsweek, and Sports Illustrated in the same week, he also still holds the record for the fastest times in both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes. He was also the only non-human chosen as one of ESPN’s “50 Greatest Athletes of the Century.” The tale of “Big Red” is an enduring and inspiring classic, more than thirty years after its initial publication.
Paperback: 480 pages
Publisher: Hyperion; Reissue edition (August 31, 2010)
ISBN-10: 1401324010
Book Link: http://www.amazon.com/Secretariat-William-Nack/dp/1401324010/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369548680&sr=1-1&keywords=Secretariat
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belmont_Stakes
Vote for June’s Book
You can vote for more one book, but only vote once.
What do you think of this months books and what are you hoping to read?